THE
GAZETTE VOLUME 9 • ISSUE 12 JUNE 23, 2022
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WILTON MANORS
DRIVER DIES IN COLLISION WITH TRAIN ONLY DAYS AFTER OPERATION CROSSING GUARD BEGINS
By Christiana Lilly The Broward Sheriff’s Office made a strong statement June 3: a zero-tolerance policy against motorists and pedestrians who try to beat the train. However, four days after the announcement of Operation Crossing Guard, a woman died after colliding with a Brightline train in Oakland Park. Liesel Hulden, 84, was killed June 7 when she drove onto the train tracks at North Dixie Highway and Cypress Creek Road. According to BSO, the railroad warning signals had already gone off and she stopped on the tracks. “As a Brightline train approached from the south, the train engineer sounded the horn and applied the brakes; however, before the train could stop, the train struck the vehicle and carried the vehicle several hundred feet,” according to a release from the agency.
Photo via GoBrightline, Facebook.
“In almost all cases, people are ignoring and circumventing the warning lights, sounds, safety signs, and crossing gates the odds of beating the train are not in your favor, and the results are just tragic.” - Steve Robson BSO's Col.
Since Brightline kicked off its services in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami in 2018, there have been countless deaths related to pedestrians standing/lying on the train tracks or cars stopping on the tracks. Just a year later, the Associated Press called the Brightline the deadliest rail line in the country. However, the last few months seem to have been particularly deadly in Broward County — and not just for the Brightline. Three pedestrians and one driver were killed in train collisions in Pompano Beach and Oakland Park, involving the Brightline, Tri-
Rail and FEC cargo trains. Thankfully, not all accidents have been fatal. In April, a truck sitting on the tracks in Wilton Manors was hit by the Brightline; there were no injuries. In March, a driver escaped with his life after colliding with the Brightline in Oakland Park. The rash of fatalities led to the creation of Operation Crossing Guard, a partnership among Brightline, BSO and local police departments to combat the train-versuscar collisions. Officers will be handing out tickets ranging from $115 to $205 and the operation will use both overt and covert
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officers. “In almost all cases, people are ignoring and circumventing the warning lights, sounds, safety signs, and crossing gates … the odds of beating the train are not in your favor, and the results are just tragic,” BSO Col. Steve Robson, the executive director of the Department and Preparedness and Response, said during a press conference on June 3. The Brightline moves at 79 miles per hour on average. According to a flier from the event, it can take a train more than a mile to come to a complete stop.
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OPINION
WILTON MANORS
THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS ARE OVER NOW WE WAIT FOR ELECTION DAY
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involved with many successful campaigns in the past, and has strong ties with area nonprofits. One of Don’s main hurdles will be his strong opinions on support of vacation and shortterm rentals in our residential neighborhoods, something residents need to have more clarity about. Of the three, one would assume that the sure bet for re-election would be Vice Mayor Rolli — pronounced row-lee not rawl-lee, as was made clear at the last city commission meeting. One should not be too self-assured in any election, especially when many residents are showing up for Public Comments mentioning your name in a non-supportive manner, as happened this past week. In an election year, when reaching out to residents for support, perhaps the vice mayor’s choice of response to the many residents who made Public Comments that night should have been more conciliatory rather than what came across as defensive and self-justifying. The hoopla that night was on the Second Reading of an Ordinance mainly worked on by Rolli — that had to do with updating and creating consistency across city advisory boards and committees. One item
was to limit the size of boards, excluding the Planning and Zoning Board, to five members. Many residents spoke up against the need to limit volunteerism and opposed such a move by the city commission. Our city is blessed with many residents looking to volunteer, to take part in their municipal government, to serve their community, and such a move was viewed as unwarranted by the many who had come to speak that night. As the chair of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board stated — that committee has operated for 66 years with great community support and cutting the members from seven to five would be nothing short of foolishness. One of the main factors stated by Rolli as to why some change in current operations were justified, was that according to city staff the workload to support each advisory board was about 14 weeks of time and labor. To give the vice mayor credit — that is an astounding amount of time spent by city staff supporting each advisory board. If city staff needs 14 weeks of labor to support the Library Advisory Board or the Parks & Recreation Board, then perhaps Rolli should be seeking the improvement of workplace efficiency for city staff rather than a reduction in volunteers looking to serve our city. There is something to think about here. As we move ahead with our first election in 24 years without Resnick on the ballot, we should take a moment to thank Resnick for his many years of service and for his part in making life just better here.
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June 23, 2022 • Volume 9 • Issue 12
Publisher • Norm Kent norm.kent@sfgn.com Associate Publisher / Executive Editor • Jason Parsley jason.parsley@sfgn.com
WE SHOULD TAKE A MOMENT TO THANK RESNICK FOR HIS MANY YEARS OF SERVICE AND FOR HIS PART IN MAKING LIFE JUST BETTER HERE.
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By Sal Torre June 17 was final call to throw your hat in the race for municipal elections here in our Island City. Boyd Corbin has decided to make a run for mayor against the incumbent Scott Newton. In the commissioners’ race for two seats, we have three candidates: incumbent Vice Mayor Paul Rolli along with Don D’Arminio and David Walker, both previously serving on the Planning and Zoning Board. It should be an interesting few months ahead till Election Day in November. The big news coming out of last Friday was the absence of Commissioner Gary Resnick’s filing as he has done in numerous election cycles here in Wilton Manors over the last 24 years. Resnick first filed back in 1998, won a seat on the city commission and went on to also serve as mayor for 10 of those 24 years of service to our city. Over the many years there have been plenty of residents who had much to say about Resnick, including myself in this column. However, Resnick’s many years of service have helped make Wilton Manors the wonderful city we all enjoy today, and now is the time to thank him for his many years of service to our community. Over the last few months of city commission meetings, observing Resnick, I would have placed my bet that Resnick would seek reelection one more time. His strong voice over the past year on vacation rentals plaguing our residential communities along with his advocacy on quality-of-life issues for residents seemed to be topics best used to win one more election. That’s one more bet lost when dealing with election outcomes involving Resnick. You would think I would have learned more over the years. Speaking of bets, one might look to place one on the long shot candidate for city commission: David Walker. His background on environmental issues along with his extensive service on numerous regional boards, and our city’s Planning and Zoning Board, make him a very formidable candidate. It will be interesting to see how this three-way race for two commission seats plays out. The other newcomer to municipal elections is also coming from many years of service on the Planning and Zoning Board, Don D’Arminio. Don is no newcomer to city politics, has been
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NEWS
OAKLAND PARK
OPERATION CROSSING GUARD ENDS, MORE THAN 500 CITATIONS GIVEN By Christiana Lilly
Image created with photo via Facebook. The two-week-long Operation Crossing Guard drew to a close on June 17, and the Broward Sheriff’s Office announced that more than 500 tickets were given out. The program was meant to target motorists and pedestrians illegally going around the crossing gate arms, sitting on the tracks, or clocking the intersection. The operation is in response to a rash of fatalities at railroad crossings in Broward County, leading to a partnership among BSO, Florida Highway Patrol, local police departments, and the Brightline train company. They used overt and covert officers and handed out tickets ranging from $115 to $205.
The agencies announced Operation Crossing Guard during a June 3 press conference at the Fort Lauderdale Brightline station.
THE BREAKDOWN OF TICKETS IS AS FOLLOWS: • 157 tickets for stopping on the railroad tracks • 146 for driving through or around closed crossing gate arms • 122 for entering a grade crossing without sufficient space to clear • 90 for blocking an intersection or crosswalk • 25 for walking around closed crossing gate arms “Until we see a reduction in the incidents at the crossing gates, this operation and the enforcement is only going to continue,” said BSO Col. Steve Robson, the executive director of the Department and Preparedness and Response. The agencies announced Operation Crossing Guard during a June 3 press conference at the Fort Lauderdale Brightline station. Unfortunately, four days later, an 84-yearold woman was killed in a collision with the Brightline in Oakland Park. While the operation has ceased, BSO says they will still have “proactive enforcement” at railways to continue cracking down on dangerous driving.
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6 . 23. 20 22 •
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NEWS
WILTON MANORS
NEWS
WILTON MANORS
RESIDENT OUTCRY SHIFTS CITY COMMISSION VOTE ON OPERATION OF ADVISORY BOARDS
REMAINS IDENTIFIED AS MISSING SOUTH FLORIDA GIRL; FORMER WILTON MANORS OFFICER SUSPECTED
Circuit shuttle service set to start by Sept. 1. Image from Circuit via Facebook. By Bella Ramirez
Susan Gale Poole.
Gerard Schaefer. By John Hayden
After decades of grief and uncertainty, a family is finally getting the facts about, if not closure on, what happened to Susan Gale Poole. New DNA has been used to identify her remains, which were found tied to a tree in 1975. The skeletal remains were among mangroves along A1A in an area known as Burnt Bridges. Poole went missing three years earlier, just before Christmas 1972.
"THE FAMILY WAS HAPPY TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME WAITING TO [LEARN] WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR SISTER.”
“HE WAS CONVICTED FOR KILLING SEVERAL GIRLS THAT WERE ALSO TIED UP IN THE MANGROVES.”
In a news conference last week, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Detective William Springer said, “The family was happy to know what happened. It’s been a long time waiting to [learn] what happened to their sister.”
FORMER WILTON MANORS POLICE OFFICER SUSPECTED Investigators are now talking with Poole’s friends, hoping to fill in the blanks of what happened to her in 1972. But they’re already homing in on a suspect: former Wilton Manors police officer Gerard Schaefer. He was working for WMPD at the time, and was convicted of the brutal murders of 16-year-old Georgia Jessup and 17-yearold Susan Place. Their killings have several similarities to Poole’s, including being found in mangroves. “He got arrested for kidnapping two girls, taking them out on A1A and tying them up in the mangroves,” Springer said. “He was convicted for killing several girls that were also tied up in the mangroves.” Schaffer is connected to more than 30 deaths, but won’t be able to shed any light on Poole’s case. He died in prison in 1995 after being stabbed by another inmate. Most evidence linking him to Poole’s murder is circumstantial.
Wilton Manors resident Jake Valentine felt “surprised” when he first learned of a proposed provision of a city ordinance that would reduce the number of advisory board members from seven to five people. At the city commission meeting June 14, Valentine was one of 10 Wilton Manors residents who spoke out against the provision in the ordinance and referred to advisory board members as “ambassadors” to the city. “Now, yes, there are only five of you,” Patrick Harris, vice chair of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, said to the commission. “But there should be at least seven of us to bring all of those voices and whittle them down to bring them to you so you can make an informed decision as to what is best needed for these various boards.” Vice Mayor Paul Rolli proposed an ordinance to make boards more uniform and improve efficiency. He said boards currently “operate inconsistently.” Following the nearly 20-minute public comment on the ordinance, the commission voted unanimously to revise the proposed ordinance to maintain the seven-member limit on advisory boards and passed the revised ordinance. “You always have the right to change your mind and the reason we do is because of people like you who come out,” Mayor Scott Newton said of the revision. Rolli noted boards may still undergo changes in the future including possible training measures. Before the discussion of the ordinance, the commission elected four members to the Planning and Zoning Advisory Board:
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• 6 . 23.2022
Richard Safaty, Rudy Molinet, Bill Desautels and Jude Belanger.
SECURITY AT STONEWALL PARADE Newton announcedan addition to the security expenditures for the Stonewall Parade — a shift to $17,500 from $35,000.
NEW CITY SHUTTLE SERVICE The city commission also agreed 4-1 to a $249,954 contract with Circuit Transit Inc. to implement a city-wide shuttle service throughout the week. The service is set to start by Sept. 1 and will not impede the current Uber and Lyft rideshare program. The quarter-million-dollar contract will be funded by the Parking Fund, not taxpayer dollars, which acquires $300,000 to $600,000 a year in a non-COVID-affected year according to Finance Director Pennie Zuercher.
COMMUNITY HONORS The city commission started the meeting by honoring Pride Month and Juneteenth Day. Juneteenth Day was held June 19 to celebrate the Black community. Newton also held a moment of silence to honor a former Wilton Manors Police Service Aide Christopher Nicholas Fariello, a 33-year-old who died in the line of duty in Tallahassee June 8. The next Wilton Manors City Commission meeting is scheduled for June 28 at 7 p.m.
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